The genus Calibrachoa was introduced as a bedding plant in the early 1990s. Since 1996, breeders at Klemm & Sohn GmbH & Co. (“Klemm”), a plant breeding company located in Stuttgart, Germany, have conducted a Calibrachoa breeding program. The first varieties developed in the breeding program were introduced onto the US market in 2000, and plant patent rights were applied for in 2001 for the first time.
The genus Calibrachoa is a very close relative of the genus Petunia. While the double flower trait had already been established in Petunia, no double flowering Calibrachoa types had been discovered so far in the Klemm breeding program, or introduced by any third parties. The inventors were successful in developing methods for breeding Calibrachoa plants having double flowers, as described in the following specification.
In general, the present invention relates to methods for breeding double flower Calibrachoa plants using controlled crosses of selected parent plants. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for breeding double flower Calibrachoa plants using interspecific hybridisation, anther culture techniques, and induced mutation. Finally, the invention relates to new Calibrachoa plants produced by the described methods and characterized by their unique double flowers.